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I. Legislative Agenda
The Technology Industries Association of New Mexico (TIA) has
focused its priorities precisely on three key issues for the 2004
session of the New Mexico Legislature.
In addition, TIA will be supportive of other broader business
and economic development legislation supported by other business
groups and by a statewide alliance of economic development, chamber
of commerce and business activists.
The three TIA priorities are:
- Broadband telecommunications development
The familiar but outdated "twisted pair copper"
wiring going into most homes and businesses are as limiting
to today's world as a rutted, narrow dirt road -- when what
is needed is the information superhighway technologies of
high-speed services, ranging from fiber optics to DSL, from
fixed high-speed wireless to cable modems.
TIA companies typically need to transmit large amounts of
data, graphics-intensive imagery, teleconferencing images
and other information that requires high-speed "broadband"
telecom infrastructure. This is true whether at the office,
plant or R&D lab; at home offices, and at Wi-Fi "hot
spots" in public places.
TIA also recognizes that, beyond its own members, other segments
of the New Mexico economy and culture are limited by inadequate
broadband infrastructure and services as well. If more broadband
is deployed ubiquitously, the benefits also will be dramatic
for education ("distance learning" and classroom
applications), medicine ("tele-medicine" and remote
diagnostics), and access to national and global markets by
"low tech" companies using websites and e-commerce
marketing.
TIA supports two telecom development proposals in the 2004
session:
- A bill to spur a robust competitive marketplace in telecommunications
services, phasing out the familiar but dated and inadequate
monopoly-based services.
The measure TIA supports identifies various "barriers
to entry" that have acted to keep out companies other
than the existing long-standing monopolies - and requires
the removal of those barriers. After this is accomplished,
the monopoly itself would also achieve its long-sought
goal of being able to operate in a deregulated economic
environment.
- Just as economic development incentives have helped
spur non-telecomrelated high tech industries, those measures
should be now utilized to incentivize telecom infrastructure
investment, particularly broadband.
The special session of the New Mexico Legislature in 2003
enacted an ambitious highway development and improvement
capital expenditure program which is much needed. TIA
supports a similar approach in broadband development -
with the further benefit being that such investment can
and will be private-sector underwritten (not with tax
dollars), but instead can be achieved or spurred by incentive
measures.
These include industrial revenue bonds, investment tax
credits and exemptions from gross receipts tax and property
tax on telecom and Internet facilities including fiber
optics, switches and routers.
This measure should be seen as a companion measure to
the highway development omnibus bill already enacted.
The combination of highway and telecom infrastructure
development will ignite economic development in New Mexico
and help overcome its chronic status as one of the lowest
states in the nation in terms of per capita income.
- Aerospace engineering at NMSU
Space is a coming frontier - not just for NASA-related activities
but reusable vehicles that will have all manner of commercial
and communications applications. White Sands Missile Range
in southern New Mexico has been a leader in aerospace activities
since World War II, a leadership status it continues to this
day.
New Mexico State University and its Physical Science Laboratory
have strong relationships with White Sands Missile Range,
NASA's White Sands Test Facility and Holloman AFB. Yet, NMSU
does not have an aerospace engineering major and professorships.
Accordingly, the White Sands regional operations must hire
graduates of aerospace engineering colleges located elsewhere.
TIA supports legislation and funding which will not only enable
NMSU to be a fuller participant in the aerospace activities
in southern New Mexico, but also, to act as an incentive to
foster future development across the state at this turning
point in the aerospace industry.
- Business Start-Up Tax Credit
Provides an exemption from payment of gross receipts and compensating
taxes and a credit to offset withholding taxes for start-up
businesses that spend at least 20 percent of total revenues
on qualified research and development. Tax relief ends when
the first of these tests is met:
- Three years after initial claim of exemption;
- 25 full-time employees;
- $10,000,000 in gross revenues;
- R&D expenditures no longer at least 20 percent
of total revenues;
- Another business owns 50 percent of the business; or
- Company claims Investment Tax Credit, Technology Jobs
Tax Credit or issues an IRB.
II. Other Public Policy Issues
Workforce development and education
TIA believes school-to-careers and other training
programs designed to prepare for the 21st century jobs are key
to New Mexico’s economic success.
- Fund post-secondary technology and manufacturing training
programs and centers.
- Deploy and fund technology in schools.
- Support quality programs such as Advanced Placement, Strengthening
Quality in Schools (SQS), Quality Leadership in Education
(QLE), and the Baldridge in Education Initiative.
- Support increased articulation for K-16 in school-to-careers
initiatives.
- Support for the UNM Manufacturing Training and Technology
Center funding.
Telecummunications
TIA strongly supports competition and free market systems.
- The legislature should continue to monitor progress at
the Public Regulation Commission to ensure timely implementation
of the 2000 amendments made to the New Mexico Telecommunications
Act.
- Supports the State CIO office aggregation and infrastructure
inventory plans.
- Support additional appropriations to facilitate the deployment
of digital television conversion for New Mexico’s three
Public Broadcast Stations.
- Supports legislative action to ensure that right-of-way,
franchise and other fees for placement of telecommunications
infrastructure in the public right-of-way are cost-based.
Electronic commerce and the Internet
TIA supports Internet policies free of restrictive monopoly
pricing and taxation and supports broadband deployment to facilitate
e-commerce and Internet growth.
- No new Internet taxes. Tax the transaction not the Internet.
- xDSL and other broadband provisioning.
- Supports replacement of the N.M. Electronic Authentication
of Documents Act with the Uniform Electronic Transactions
Act that recognizes technological neutrality with regard
to the recognition of electronic signatures and records,
and allows the states to adopt a uniform legal standard
to govern transactions in interstate and international electronic
commerce. Such legislation should apply to both the public
and private sectors.
- No expansion of universal service monopoly costs to Internet
and data services.
Economic development of technology sector
TIA believes New Mexico should enhance the environment for emerging
technology industries through such programs as:
- Permanent funding of In-Plant Training.
- Support incubator initiatives for technology industry
development.
- Support technology cluster development initiatives.
Public tax policy
TIA favors a stable tax policy that stimulates private investment
and job creation.
- Limit government spending to the rate of inflation.
- Oppose any reduction in the value of the state’s
economic incentive package.
- Lower the personal income tax upper limits.
- No new Internet taxes.
- Support R&D tax credit initiatives.
- Eliminate pyramiding of GRT on services between businesses.
Improve and add flexibility to environmental
regulations
- Streamline regulatory approval of operational changes
designed to prevent pollution.
- Limited tax credits for conservation programs, including
water.
- Environmental programs should be developed and implemented
based on sound science.
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